Tag Archives: fitness

Get Rubber Flooring and Revolutionize Your Gym

Opening a new gym is hard work especially when it comes to furnishing it with the proper equipment. Not only do you have to be wary of faulty items, but you need to stay within a budget that does not leave room for wasteful expenditures.

Rubber flooring is very cost efficient as a flooring option. Gym flooring needs to be as resilient and flexible as possible to withstand daily wear and tear. Rubber floors made of rubber look good, feel good and are quite affordable to boot!

In fact, even professional gym owners, who have successful gymnasiums, need to work within a fixed budget when purchasing new equipment for their facility. That’s because they still need to pay their employees and upgrade old equipment beforehand.

This doesn’t leave them much money for flooring purchases. However, cheap weight room flooring and exercise flooring is available in rubber form. Buying the right one can give a huge difference in the performance of your daily training exercises.

The first thing you need to do is research the different kinds of gym flooring available for your facility. Don’t be skittish in asking as much questions as you can from the sales person. There are a lot of types available in the market according to size, thickness and density like interlocking rubber tiles. Decide on the thickness of your rubber flooring wisely.

Weight room flooring would require thicker rubber floor mats to withstand the considerable weight of the barbells. A spin room, on the other hand, will require thinner rubber flooring since this room does not undergo as much wear and tear. Typically, gyms are usually furnished with 3/8” thick rubber flooring.

Once you have decided upon the thickness you are going to go with, pick colors that compliment the decor of your facility. However, keep in mind that you may have to shell out extra cash if you plan on getting rubber flooring with high color content. Go with black. It’s inexpensive and can be recycled easily as well. Otherwise, you can go for ones with a black background and 20% color content like grey.

Interlocking tiles are also a good choice for gym flooring. Rolled rubber is the best choice for such flooring since it gives a seamless look that is perfect for large areas like a gym. They are also suitable for martial arts facilities, High Schools and small fitness centres. The best thing is that they aren’t messy to install since they do not require any kind of adhesive to set in place. Interlocking rubber tiles simply fix together in one seamless whole throughout the room.

Try not to set rubber flooring yourself if you aren’t a professional though. You may not achieve perfection while installing them yourself. Plus, the flooring will need to be sealed repeatedly to set properly. Using unskilled hands for this task can make you end up paying for more than just the rubber flooring. A skilled flooring expert will ensure you get your money’s worth without ruining the fresh rubber floor mats or interlocking rubber tiles you so painstakingly chose.

Why Rubber Flooring is a Great Choice for Sports Areas

For commercial users of roller rubber flooring, the need to protect visiting families, customers and employees is more important than the look of the business or the added advantages of using rolled rubber flooring. With skating rinks or swimming pools, as an example, there is danger of people slipping and falling when others leave the ice rink and track water on the floor. Skating rinks should have assigned custodians to take care of these spills, but it is better to be safe than be sorry.

It is important to have rubber flooring for the areas surrounding the ice rink since the traction ensures that people will not slip, even if there is water on the floor. Furthermore, the rubber flooring rolls have the convenient feature of repelling moisture instantly. So even if you step on it with wet shoes, it saves you and your customers from a nasty fall.

This will undoubtedly be an incentive for any commercial establishment to install rolled rubber flooring. This is largely due to the affordability of the flooring rolls. If you cannot wrap your head around the short-term cost, think of what you save in the long term.

Protecting your employees and customers from a nasty slip within your business will save you from having to deal with the litigating and settlement costs of the lawsuits you are at the risk of facing. Added to this are the hospital expenses you will also have to bear, and the bad press you will get in the process. All of this might affect your business’s prospects.

Sports areas such as skating rinks, swimming pools, gyms and baseball practicing arenas also face the risk of wear and tear simply due to the heavy flow of traffic as people walk in and out. Since these are sporting areas, there is also the risk of damage caused by heavy machinery. The toughness of the material as well as its resilience and its ability to withstand extreme pressures and heavy weights make it a good choice for sports areas. The rubber flooring will be able to withstand damage from sharp equipment.

These rolled rubber floors will provide a safe area for players, skaters and recreational sportspeople to move around and get in their gear. Like a good pair of shoes, a good floor can add to the comfort that the walker experiences. Choosing a good floor is just as important, therefore, as choosing a comfortable pair of sports shoes because they both minimize the amount of joint stress experienced by the player.

These rubber floors are also easier to maintain than other kinds of floors. Because they do not absorb water, and do not get discolored, they can easily be cleaned. It is easier to use anti-bacterial sprays on a rubber surface, making it a healthy and hygienic option for sports arenas.

Rubber floor mats are therefore easy to install and can save your customers and employees from terrible accidents. If you are concerned about the money, there are many affordable varieties of rubber flooring rolls that you can choose from. You will also not need to change them every year, so think of it as an investment that can only bring you good things.

What Is The Ideal Weight Room Flooring?

It can be tough deciding on ideal weight room flooring. Weight rooms are no longer restricted to professional neighborhood gyms. People are now installing gym equipment in their homes and offices. Before you follow suit, it is important to decide about the type of flooring in the weight room.

Weight Room Equipment

It used to be dumbbells and barbells, spit and sawdust, no more. Modern gym equipment consists of cross trainers, cable machines, leg presses, bench presses, elliptical trainers, exercise bikes and power cages. Most of these machines are of large frames and heavier construction. They exert pressure on the flooring and the constant drag can result in the rapid deterioration of flooring.

Injury Prevention

You cannot eliminate the risk of injury while doing weigh training. You can, however, avoid serious injuries if the floor is made of rubber. Unlike concrete or granite, exercise flooring made from rubber is shock absorbent and flexible enough to support your weight in case of a fall. You may still sustain an injury but it will be of trivial. This is not the case with traditional flooring where you may suffer debilitating injuries and possible life threatening situations.

Curbing Noise Pollution

Gym equipment is bound to create noise that is unappealing to most ears. The paddling of bikes and the lifting of cable machines creates an unpleasant rhythm. Ordinary flooring cannot absorb this sound but rubber floor mats are good enough to reduce noise.

Ease of Use

No one wants to spend hours cleaning stains and dirt from gym floors, which tend to accumulate more grime than other spaces. Rubber flooring can help you in devising simple cleaning plans. You need a simple wet wipe to clean dust. Rubber floor comes with good drainage and makes cleaning easier for you.

Type of Rubber Flooring

Interlocking rubber tiles are particularly good for home or professional gyms as they are easier to assemble and require minimal cleaning. Rolled rubber flooring is the most commonly used type of floor in gyms. It is available in thin yet strong constructions and provides simpler installation for gyms.

Whether you choose rolled rubber or interlocking tiles, it is important to assemble them as per manufacturer’s instructions. This will enable you to use them for years without any problems. Rubber flooring can add a new dimension to your gym while also reducing the noise associated with such places.

Fake Grass For Your Lawn

It is easier talking about a clean grassy lawn than actually doing the work. Even if you are a hard worker, it will be difficult ensuring the grass remains greener and there are no pests or patches of dry grass.

Natural grass can also harbor snakes and other venomous animals that pose serious risks, especially if you have toddlers at home. While an extreme example, there are plenty of areas of our country where such dangers exist.

What is Fake Grass?

Defined in simple terms, fake grass is the alternative to its natural cousin in looks and appearance. It, however, does not grow or wither like natural grass. Fake grass is made of synthetic fiber. It resembles natural grass in shape, size and appearance. It is available in different trims and cuts with some resembling overgrown bushes while others have a trimmed and smooth texture like that of a golf course or neatly manicured lawn.

Why Use It Over Natural Turf?

Natural turf is exposed to elements such as air, moisture and heat and can wither away in days, even with regular watering and maintenance. You also need to be equipped with superior gardening skills to ensure its continued health.

Fake turf does not require much maintenance. All you need to do is to roller press it at regular intervals. You can also hose the turf to clean dirt, animal refuse and other mess. Modern turfs come with an effective drainage system thus posing no problem to the fibers.

Fake grass has a uniform texture and hues and that can help you in avoiding those winter blues common with natural turf. There will also be no weeds and other problems associated with ordinary grass.

Economy

Above all, it is the economy you should be looking for. It is the economy of time as well as financial savings that tilt the balance in fake grass’s favor. Although you may have to spend a little extra at the time of installation, artificial turf is virtually maintenance free. It can last for years whereas natural grass dies quickly even with the best of care.

Fake grass is gaining popularity among American homeowners. It gives a year-round slicker and greener look. You can use synthetic turf to beautify your lawn and earn praise from your neighbors and visitors alike.

The Different Types of Rubber Garage Floors

The garage is the one space in a home that most people take for granted. It’s somewhere to store the car, old furniture, family history that you don’t want to throw away and anything else you can’t fit in the house. Elevating your garage from the mundane to the eminently useful can be cheaper than you think. Here’s how to use rubber flooring to do just that.

The flooring is a good place to start. If your floor is bare concrete and experiences a lot of traffic, it could start to crack quite quickly. The result would be a thousand dollar repair bill that you could easily have avoided if you had acted sooner. Installing rubber floor tiles on your garage floor can help you do just that.

Of course, buying any old rolled rubber tiles from your nearest hardware store just won’t do. You have to have an idea of the type of rubber flooring you want to install in your garage. Look for quality and be prepared to get what you pay for. Low grad floor tiles, especially the cheaper variety, tends to warp easily and can crack under heavy loads.

You would therefore be doing yourself a favor by opting for quality tiles or quality rolled rubber flooring. The rubber floor tiles are made from a hard wearing, stain resistant material that is ideal for a garage. They can be laid individually, or some lock together to create a solid rubber floor.

If you want to cover an area at once, then rolled rubber garage floors are what you should be looking out for. Rubber floors that come in this variety are the most convenient to install. All you have to do is to roll them out and trim to fit your existing garage floor. Some will need adhesive to secure them, others will not.

Ask the experts at Kodiak Sports.com, a primary supplier of rubber flooring. Their expert guidance can quickly guide you in your quest to elevate your garage into another useable space.

Rubber Flooring for Tiny Tots

Nothing screams safety like a soft rubber floor, the best place for it being on school playgrounds or anywhere children play. Tough rubber flooring has the capability of enduring the feistiest of toddlers. They are also installed alongside slippery pool sides and fountains.

Needless to say, their importance can never be underestimated. Some of the other benefits of rubber flooring are as follows –

Resilient

A rubber floor is designed to be resilient and flexible, which is why it is seen as the perfect floor for playgrounds. This is also why it is also a popular choice of flooring for basketball courts, gyms and exercise areas.

Safety

This goes without saying. Recycled rubber products like this one have non slip properties. This is also why floors made of rubber are ideal for outdoor sporting facilities especially in areas that experience a lot of rain.

Muffles Sound

A playground can become pretty noisy. The neighbors won’t take kindly to screaming children if the school or playground happens to be in a populated neighborhood. Since rubber has the capacity to absorb sound, it is used to make rubber tiles for flooring such areas. For example, children can fall, jump or play quieter since the rubber tiles beneath them will muffle some of the noise they make. While a rubber floor won’t completely bring the noise level down, it will soften it down to tolerable levels.

UV Resistant

The sun can be a cruel taskmaster especially to a toddler’s sensitive skin. Rubber floors are designed to be resistant to the sun’s rays. Other than that, floors such as these are also frost and weather proof. Regions that experience extreme weather conditions can definitely make use of them in their outdoor facilities.

Easy Maintenance

Rubber flooring is also dirt repellent. In other words, you won’t need to wash it too regularly. It doesn’t matter whether you choose to install your floors indoors or outdoors. All you have to do in order to clean it is to sweep it with a standard broom every once in a while. Stains can easily be gotten rid of by applying a soapy solution to them and wiping them off with a dry cloth.

Just make sure that you are not overzealous in your cleaning. This means not using any steel wool, buffing machines, corrosive cleaning solutions or any type of scouring cleaning equipment on the delicate floor. Just wipe down and go, another great benefit of rubber floors!

Rubber Flooring for Dog Training and Kennels

Rubber Flooring for Dog and Animal Clinics

This article does not include/discuss animal mats for farms, horse/stall mats, etc.  This is specifically related to rolled rubber flooring for indoor pet clinics, hospitals, training areas and more.

Why is rolled better than tiles for pet flooring?

  • Rolled rubber flooring goes down with glue and is virtually seamless upon installation
  • Rolled rubber flooring is 4′ wide, so you can have very few seams
  • Interlocking rubber floor tiles, even the CNC cut type still have more seams and more chance of messes in between tiles
  • Urethane sealer can be applied quickly and easily to your new rolled rubber flooring

Materials needed for proper animal flooring installation?